July 21, 1997:
If media organizations are "tools of white supremacists," as several
speakers charged during Fisk University's recent conference on race
relations, it's hard to explain the panderingcoverage the conference
received last week in the local press.

On the second day of the conference, a Washington, D.C., psychiatrist
argued that white racism is rooted in "genetic survival" and fear of "black
genetic dominance." Illustrating her argument with sexually explicit
drawings, Dr. Frances Cress Welsing argued that whites are worried about
the large sex organs of black men and that the white "obsessions" with
getting a suntan and smoking cigars demonstrate that whites are fascinated
by skin color and penis size.

The keynote speaker at the conference, Welsing was described by The
Tennessean as "a national expert on racism." The story by reporter
Linda Moore managed to leave out most of Welsing's crazier theories.

The next day, another race-relations "expert," rapper Chuck D, told the
audience, "We got to kill some people" in order to solve the problem of
racism. Fellow panelist, jazz drummer Max Roach, said he longed for the
good old days of segregation. "I'm a segregationist totally," he reportedly
told the audience.

The Tennessean's Rick de Yampert, who normally writes about rock
music, assured readers that Chuck D was "perceived [by the audience] as
speaking with metaphor and exaggeration in the confrontational tradition of
his rap group." De Yampert noted that at least one audience member, who
apparently didn't appreciate Chuck D's metaphorical style, told the rapper
that "killing people is not a solution."

On Saturday, The Tennessean spun these bizarre statements into a
front-page story headlined "Discomfort has a place at conference."

The conference finally ended Sunday with participants agreeing on 21
"action items" that will purportedly be sent to President Clinton for
consideration. Among the items: "reparations for persons of color affected
by global practices of genocide," the abandonment of the "Eurocentric
framework" of public education, and "dismantling all media structures that
reflect white supremacy and the imbalance of power." Beginning Sept. 1, the
conference report stated, "all media organizations" will be "monitored" and
"sanctioned" for racist content. It might be good to start with the reverse
racism in the morning daily.

Nashville Banner reporter Lady Hereford did a generally better
job than her counterparts at The Tennessean in conveying the overall
level of nuttiness at the conference. But the Banner's lead
editorial Friday afternoon praised the conference for attracting "the
brightest, most forward looking experts of the day" and predicted that the
conference would help "mend our nation's racial rift." The Banner
said Clinton should study the conference's recommendations "with the same
intensity that went into formulating them."

Legal unease

No lawyers have appeared yet at the Nashville Scene's offices in
response to the paper's cover story about Baptist Hospital president David
Stringfield. Before the article appeared, local attorney Bob Ballow
implicitly threatened the paper with a libel suit based on what Ballow
described as "prima facie evidence" that the story, although unpublished,
was "not designed to be a fair, objective, and professional news
piece."

However, Ballow's firm, King & Ballow, is a member of the New York-based
Libel Defense Resource Center. One of the center's activities is to provide
research assistance and litigation support to firms defending the media
against libel suits. Firms pay $1,000 a year for membership.

If King & Ballow sues the Scene, the firm will be suspended from
membership in the center, according to center executive director Sandra
Baron. Firms are seldom suspended, "but it happens," Baron said. She added
that merely threatening a suit doesn't affect a firm's membership.

King & Ballow represents a number of media clients, including the
Nashville Banner and the Tennessee Association of Broadcasters.

Meanwhile, The Wall Street Journal weighed in this week with its
own Page 1 investigation of Stringfield and Baptist. The story by reporter
Monica Langley repeated several incidents previously included in the
Scene but added more context about the hospital's marketing
strategy. Langley's wrote her entire story without quoting a single
anonymous source. The Scene story was based almost entirely on
unnamed sources.

Odds and ends

Every now and then, the governor's press office arranges a "ceremonial"
signing of legislation. It's not real news, just a photo op for the press.
The real signings have already occurred.

Last week, Sundquist went through with the ceremonial signings of a bill
that broadens visitation rights of grandparents and another piece of
legislation that improves insurance coverage for women who need
reconstructive breast surgery. Both bills had been closely followed in the
media and, as The Tennessean reported a month ago, were signed into
law on June 13.

The governor's spokesperson, Beth Fortune, said she made it clear that
last week's signing had no legal significance. But at least one station,
WTVF-Channel 5, didn't get the message. Anchor Vicki Yates happily reported
as breaking "news" that grandparents who want to see their grandchildren
and women who have mastectomies are now better off "thanks to laws signed
today by Gov. Don Sundquist."

* Four times a week, according to The Tennessean's in-house news
formula, readers want to see stories on "coping." That's why the paper runs
articles like David Hefner's June 25 piece that warned of "ominous fire and
health hazards" caused by hot weather. Despite weeks of rain, the No. 1
hazard on Hefner's list was brush fires caused by "outdoor foliage...set
afire by extreme heat."

Another miracle, explained by science.

To comment or complain about the media, leave a message for Henry at
the Scene (615-244-7989, ext. 445), call him at his office, 615-252-2363, or send
an e-mail to hwalker@bccb.com.